Mass Effect: Troopers
by Mandalor V7
Summary: In the Battle of London a squad of troopers fight for their lives against hoards of Reaper forces. Rated M for some strong cursing and blood. Could possible be rated T, but just wanted to be on the safe side. So please tell me what you think.


8

Hey, this was one of the first attempts of an action story that I did. So I just though might as well post it to see how people like it. Enjoy.

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Mass Effect

Troopers

The Battle for Earth: London

"Quill watch your rear; husks coming up on your six!"

Quill, a quarian engineer, who was already running at a fast pace, turned his masked head to see three husks rushing at him and closing fast. Drawing his Carnifex heavy pistol, Quill fired a few quick shots, as Reaper artillery fire exploded all around him. The first shot hit the lead husk square in the chest. The second and third shots missed but the forth one struck the second husk in the arm: dismembering it from below the elbow. The now one armed husk was not fazed by this injury but only ran harder and more viciously.

Now realizing that he wasn't going to be able to out run the cyborg zombies, Quill turned to face them head on. Rolling forward and spinning around, Quill stood on one knee and unleashed an incineration attack with his Omni-tool. The one-armed husk became a pile of ash in less than a second. Then Quill finished off the last husk with his two remaining shots before the thermal clip overheated.

With the main threat removed for now, Quill entered the abandoned apartment building where the rest of his squad was held up. For the first time in hours Quill allowed himself to take a long deep breath.

"Quill what is the situation like out there?" Asked Jake, who was the same person that had called out to Quill earlier and was the leader of their rag-tag squad known as Red Comet Unit.

"Not good sir. Viper unit has been wiped out. The Reaper AA guns are still operational and the shuttle carrying the heavy weapons is swarming with husks and cannibals. Plus, we have a shit load of Reaper forces heading our way," Quill answered.

"Bosh`tet!" Jake cursed. The human sentinel having picked up the habit of saying the word from Quill. He then turned to look out a window at the dreary, foreshadowing landscape that lay before them. The light from the burning buildings casting an orange haze on his blood red armor.

A few seconds passed by before Jake solemnly asked, "What type of Reaper forces should we be expecting?"

"Manly husks and cannibals, but I think that there is a strong chance that there will be a large number off collector infantry as well."

"Collectors hu… well this should fun. Their heads are so big that I doubt even Blade could miss them with that M-76 Revenant that he insists on lugging around for some reason." Said Calvin over the short rang com unit. He lay in a prone position on the second floor of the building with his black widow sniper rifle at the ready.

"Who needs head shots when you have insinuation ammo? My Revenant can put down dozens of rounds down range by the time you fire one shot. Besides if we are still keeping scour, then I have eighty kills, while you have only seventy-four." Replied Blade, the batarian, former Blood Pack merc and now squad demolition expert. He was taking cover behind a fallen refrigerator, a few feet away from Jake and Quill.

A second later a signal loud gunshot boomed. "Make that seventy-five. I just nailed that revenger that was taking pot shots at Quill." Calvin responded

If anyone else from outside the squad heard the conversation they might have thought that Calvin and Blade did not get along. While that might have been true in the beginning, Calvin and Blade having fought on opposite sides of a conflict between humans and batarians several years ago. Quill could even remember a few times when they had been off duty that he thought one of them was going to kill the other. But, they had moved on from their preconceived notions and had developed a level of mutual respect. It was something that all of them had developed over the hellish months that they had gone through together.

"All right gentlemen enough chatter!" Said Jake. "We can all boast about our exploits over drinks at the Citadel, or where ever we will be when this war ends. Right now we need to keep our heads in our current mess. Do I make myself clear?

He got an affirmative from all three men.

"Okay, then let me put it to you strait. You all know that we are in a bad spot. Though, I do have some have some hopeful news. We got a message from Hammer command saying that they deployed another strike team to take out the AA guns. The message was garbled at best, so I don't know who exactly their sending. But the way I figure it, they are going to need help. I purposes that we dig in here, make as much noise as we can and draw as many enemies away from those guns. If anyone has any objections they can speak now." No one questioned the plan

"Good. Quill get up to the second floor, reload, and pinpoint targets for Calvin. Blade and I will hold the ground floor."

Quill nodded and followed his orders. Walking up the stairs, Quill headed to the crashed remains of the shuttle. Red Comet unit had been in route to provide support to local resistance fighters when their shuttle had been hit and crashed into the side of the building. The front of the shuttle had taken the brunt of the impact, killing the polite. Through thankfully the troop bay had remand intact. Slipping through a cracked opened door, Quill entered the shuttle. He grabbed a handful of thermal clips; one of which he loaded in his pistol. He then drew his assault rifle from his back. The sleek geth pulse rifle sprang to life in his hands as he pressed a button to fully extend the weapon.

Holding the rifle in a relaxed position, Quill moved to a spot of cover that would give him a vantage point over the battlefield. Calvin briefly turned his head as Quill approached. Then he went back to looking down the scope of his sniper rifle.

"So, Viper unit is really gone aren't they?" Calvin remarked as he and Quill waited for the dreaded moment when the fighting would start again.

"Yep, I stumbled across Snake and Gremmer's bodies near the start of my recon. There were the remains of at least a hundred husks and five brutes around them"

Calvin shook his head. "Well Snake had always been a stuck-up, argent jerk, even by salarian standers. Though, he was one heck of a shot with a sniper rifle. And Gremmer, man that krogan was a walking tank. I am surprised that anything short of a Reaper could take him down."

"Like I said, they were overrun by husks and brutes." Quill replied.

"What about Gavin and Tel-vern? You didn't say how they died." Calvin asked.

"No. I did not find their bodies but there was a lot of drell blood in that area."

"Well maybe they are still alive." Calvin optimistically stated.

Quill was about to say how unlikely that was, but then decided not to. Everyone had already lost so much during this war. Why should Quill squash what little hope Calvin had left?

"Heads-up boys, enemy forces incoming." Jake called out.

Calvin and Quill looked out to see a mixed group of more than a hundred husks, cannibals, collector troopers, and many other Reaper units charging at them. And just like that Red Comet Unit fell into their normal routine without even thinking about it. Everyone knew their jobs. While Blade and Calvin focused their efforts on taking down the harder targets, such as brutes or marauders, Quill and Jack would use their lighter weapons to take down the softer targets or use their tech and biotic abilities to assist Blade and Calvin. The advance scanning device on Quill's Omni-tool was especially helpful to Calvin, as it highlighted weakness in enemy armor or pointed out key enemy units, such as collector captains.

Quill did not know how much time was passing. The fighting was so intense that he could barely think of anything else but stay alive and keep your comrades safe. Every second felt like an hour and every hour felt like a second. Besides the occasional warning or Blade and Calvin announcing their latest number of kills, no one talked.

The reaper units died in droves. Their bodies littering the wide open city square that separated Red Comet Unit from area where the reaper troops were coming from. Despite Red Comet Units efforts, they were facing a virtually unlimited amount of enemies. It was only a matter of time before they were overrun.

"My SMG and pistol are out of ammo." Jake called out. "Quill can you swop places with me? Come down here and then I will go up."

Having herd the transmission too, Calvin looked to Quill. "Go on. I can hold it here on my own for a few moments."

Nodding his head, Quill broke from cover. He was half way down the stairs when a hug explosion rocked the apartment building. The shock wave sent Quill tumbling down the stairs. If it wasn't for his armor's kinetic barrier the visor on Quill's helmet would have cracked open. For a quarian this would be just as sure a death as a bullet between the eyes. Quill picked himself up and looked to the sky just in time to ketch a glimpse of a reaper air unit, known as a harvester, pass overhead.

"Is everyone alright?" Quill asked.

"Got a bit knocked around but I am doing okay here," Calvin said.

There was no world from Jack or Blade.

One again Quill called out, heading into the ground floor level.

"Jake! Blade! Does anyone read me?"

He was answered by only silence.

"Just stay alive! I am on my way." Quill shouted into the com unit.

Rounding the corner of the stair well of the first floor, Quill encountered two cannibals. He quickly gunned them down. Then he took cover as a collector trooper opened fire. Extending his arm out of cover, Quill fired an incineration attack. Glancing to his right Quill saw a pack of husks charging him. Before he could react they were mowed down by light machine gun fire.

"Hey there Quar." Blade smugly stated joining Quill and continuing to shoot at the reaper troopers all around them.

"Thanks Blade. What the hell is it with husks always coming after me?"

"Beats me," Blade responded. "Maybe they like your smell or something."

"Where is Jake at?" Quill asked.

"We were over there," said Blade pointing to a dark hallway behind them. "A cannibal threw a grenade and we got separated."

Quill nodded and ran in that direction. Blade remand where he was laying down cover fire.

"Jake, you here!" Quill called out as he started to search the lower level apartments. One by one Quill looked finding nothing but spent thermal clips and the bodies of dead reaper troopers.

That was until Quill reached the fifth apartment. Just like all the others apartments, it was dark and dirty with furniture and other thing scattered about. Though, Quill's scanner picked up on something: a drop of human blood, still fresh. Hesitantly Quill moved deeper and deeper into the apartment. The blood trail growing with every step. Quill was stepping into the kitchen when he saw the ghostly puerperal glow of biotic energy.

Jake limply laid against a set of counters in a growing pool of blood. He weakly raised his head at Quill's arrival. Jake had removed his helmet, so Quill could see the features of his face. Jake's short white blond hair was matted, and singed in a few places. There was a new set of scares on his right cheek and his eyes, which were normally a dark blue, were sullen and icy.

"It is no use I am blooding out. Go on, get out of here." Jake weakly crocked, as Quill approached.

"Don't weary Jake everything is going to be all right." Quill replied. He proceed to apply a dose of medi-gel on Jakes main injury.

"Didn't you hear me? I gave you an order!"

"Well sir, I think as you would put it. "To hell with orders!"

"Fuck." Jake grunted, as Quill slung him over his should.

"Blade, I have Jake and am heading your way."

"Good. Things are getting a little hot here, even for my taste."

A few seconds later Quill and Jake regrouped with Blade. "Come on we have to get up stairs!" Quill urged Blade.

The trio moved out. Blade took point, unleashing an onslaught of fire at anything that moved. Quill stayed close behind taking out any stragglers with his pistol. Ridding on Quill's back, Jake was still able to contribute to the fight by launching biotic warp attacks. The group made it to the stair well without incident. However a fresh wave of enemy soldiers were entering the building.

At that moment Calvin popped out of cover at the top of stairs. He opened fire with his M-8 Avenger. "Hey Blade, fire and brim stone." He called out.

Blade nodded. He took his last incineration grenade and let it tumble down the stairs. At the same time Calvin tossed a frag. Calvin's grenade sailed over Blade, Quill, and Jake. Exploding above the trailing reaper troopers. At the same as the incineration grenade detonated.

"WO! That should give us some time." Quill remarked as he and the rest of the squad fell back to the second floor. Quill rested Jake against the shuttle. He removed Jake's chest plate to get a better look at the injury.

"Well it should give us a second or two to regroup and figure out what to do next." Calvin remarked. He and Blade went about blocking the entrance.

"Do we have and an exit strategy?" Blade asked.

"You are the demolition expert. You tell us." Jake sarcastically remarked.

"I used my last explosive on the reapers trailing us."

"I guess this is it then. We make our last stand here. It has been a good run." Said Quill looking to Blade and Calvin, then Jake."

"Hey now, don't start all that soft crap," said Blade. He shouldered his light machine gun and drew his shot gun.

"Can you fight?" Calvin asked Jake. He extended his avenger to his injured friend. The batted and torn N7 marine grasped the weapon and stood on his feet, but had to lean against a wall.

At that moment the reaper troops started to pond against the barricade. Red Comet Unit looked to it, their weapons at the ready. Time seamed to slow down. The reaper troops ripped at the barricade like the beat of a base drum.

"Son of a bitch Harvester income" Jake exclaimed, looking to the sky. Quill joined Jake in looking at the enemy air unit. Like a demonic beast from the legends of a thousand different civilizations, the harvester hovered overhead.

"Well, if the infantry does not kill us that thing will." Calvin remarked.

Though amongst all the certain doom, Quill looked past it all. His head perked up. Then he said something that a few month ago he would never have thought he would ever say. "Don't you guys here that geth fighters incoming. We are saved.

As almost on cue the harvester erupted in a ball of fire. A pair of geth fighters zoomed past. The geth were not alone. Vorcha and Blue Sun merc fighters aided the geth in clearing the skies. Asari gunships and Volus bombers started to lay waist to enemy ground troops. Turnian and Alliance shuttles trailed behind.

Given new hope, Red Comet Unit charged the enemy head on. Calvin wielded two Omni-blades. Blade used his shotgun. Jake unleashed an automatic spray with the avenger. Quill, of course, used his pistol and Omni-tool in unison.

The reaper troops were driven back down to the first floor. There they met their end as they were ambushed by a group of geth troopers. One of the geth, who was painted a dark blue with teal trim, approached Quill.

"Creator, we are geth combat platforms designated Gear Unit. We are here to extract you."

"Of course." Quill replied. "Lead the way."

Red Comet Unit fallowed the geth out of the building. Outside a turnain shuttle had landed in the square. There were four korgan guarding it. Now that the adrenalin of combat was starting to where off, Jake leaned on Calvin for support.

"Hey Blade, what is your kill count?" Calvin asked.

"110," Blade responded.

"Well then, I guess we are tied."

"For now at least," Blade said with smug grin on his face.

Red Comet Unit boarded the shuttle, which took off shortly after word. As the shuttle cruised over the war-torn streets of London a medic checked Jake over. The rest of the squad sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. Though the battle was far from over and things were only going to get whereas, for now the troopers comforted themselves with the fact that they had lived through the first wave of this crazy plan. And in a war filled with crazy plans and hopeless battles that was all a trooper could really ask for.


End file.
